A salute to the fabulous food of New Orleans

Finally, a book on New Orleans restaurants that feels like summer in the city: gusty, alluring, oppressive, extravagant and intentionally over the top. Eat Dat New Orleans is a love letter from ex-pat and food junkie Michael Murphy to one of the most complex and addictive cities in the world.

Behind the Book by Michael Murphy

For mythological heroes “the call” comes as they are just entering manhood. I was rushing toward my 60s and trying to re-direct my life after 30 years in book publishing had hit a dry patch, a dry patch the size of the Sahara Desert . . . “The call” usually comes in the form of a burning bush, or at least in the middle of the night. Mine was an email. On a Tuesday.

From the Big Apple to the Bay

Wouldn't it be great to get into your 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon, load up the tank with 18&andcent;-per-gallon gas from your local Cities Service, Richfield, Enco, Flying A or Humble station, and drive from coast to coast on one of America's most scenic and history-laden highways? Well, Michael Wallis (author of the classic Route 66) and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer...

Travelogues take you a world away

Michael Konik's Ella in Europe: An American Dog's International Adventures is in many respects a love story. A white Lab mix, Ella is just about the smartest dog around, hip enough to wear snazzy red bandanas yet gentle and sweet-natured enough to volunteer in nursing homes and hospitals. She's a true original, and in an effort to show his gratitude for her companionship, Konik arranges to...

The Galapagos' allure

<B>The Galapagos' allure</B> Charles Darwin went to the Galapagos in the 19th century and found the inspiration for his <B>Origin of the Species</B>. Jack Nelson went there in the 1960s for a very different reason.To put it simply, Nelson was a draft dodger determined to stay out of Vietnam. Though people fly right into the Galapagos these days, his pilgrimage involved...

New series pairs authors and destinations

Travel books generally adhere to one of two camps: the promotional (go here, see this, don't miss) and the vicarious (sagas of astounding adventures few would dream of trying to duplicate). The new Crown Journeys series, which debuts this month with a pair of titles from Edwidge Danticat and Michael Cunningham, assays an offbeat category: The ruminative. The idea is to pair a litterateur with...